The Simple Past in German (Preterite)

First and foremost you need to understand this one vital difference between English and German when it comes to the simple past:The simple past is the most frequent tense used in both conversational and written English to describe an event that has happened in the past. On the other hand, the simple past is usually not expressed in spoken German – in fact in some southern German dialects, â€Å"das Prà ¤teritum† has been completely eradicated. The simple past in German is mostly used in written works, such as in stories:Es war einmal ein Ehepaar†¦ (There once was a married couple.)Der Junge schleichte sich langsam zur Tà ¼r hin und wartete einen Moment. Dann riss er die Tà ¼r plà ¶tztlich auf und fing an laut zu schreien... (The boy quietly crept to the door and waited for a moment. Then he suddenly flung the door open and began to scream†¦) Quick Facts About the Simple Past The simple past is used mostly in written German to describe an event or action that both started and ended in the past.The simple past in German is also identified as das Imperfekt.Special case: Modal verbs and the verbs haben (to have), sein (to be) and wissen (to know) are exceptions – they, unlike other verbs, will be used mostly in the simple past tense in spoken German.The common verb mà ¶chten (to want) has no past tense. The verb wollen is used instead:Ich mà ¶chte einen Keks (I would like a cookie.) - Ich wollte einen Keks ( I wanted a cookie.)The Formation of the Simple Past Tense in German German verbs are divided into weak and strong verbs and are conjugated into the simple past tense accordingly:Weak Verbs: As with other tenses, weak verbs follow a predictable pattern here as well.Verbstem -te Personal endingTake note: When the stem of a weak verb ends in either d or t, then –ete will be added:Ich rede zu viel (I talk too much) - Ich redete damals zu vie l. (I spoke too much then)Er arbeitet morgen. (He is working tomorrow) - Er arbeitete stà ¤ndig jeden Tag. (He worked steadily each day)To a beginner, this double te â€Å"stutter† sound may seem odd at first, but you see it so often in text that it will soon become second nature to you.lachen (to laugh) nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp sich duschen (To shower)Ich lachte nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Ich duschte michDu lachtest nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Du duschtest dichEr/Sie/ Es lachte nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Er/Sie/Es duschte sichWir lachten nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Wir duschten unsIhr lachtet nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Ihr duschtet euchSie lachten nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Sie duschten sichStrong Verbs:  As with other tenses, strong verbs do not follow a predictable pattern. Their verb stem changes. It is best to just memorize them. Sometimes the consonants change too, but thankfully not as drastically:ß-ss nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp schmeißen - schmissss-ß nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp giessen - goßd- tt nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp schneiden - schnittThe simple past tense of some common strong German verbs:fahren (to drive) nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp stehen (To stand)Ich fuhr nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Ich standDu fuhrst nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Du stand(e)stEr/Sie/ Es fuhr nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Er/Sie/Es standWir fuhren nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Wir standenIhr fuhrt nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Ihr standetSie fuhren nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Si e standenA small number of strong verbs have two simple past tense forms. Some of these are common verbs:erschrecken (to get scared/ to scare)- erschrak/ erschrecktehauen (to hit) - hieb/ haute (more common)stecken (to get stuck) – stak/ steckte (more common)Mixed Verbs: Mixed verbs are those verbs which have elements of both strong and weak verbs. In the case of the simple past that would mean that the stem vowel changes and the endings follow the pattern of weak verbs. A good example of mixed verbs is modal verbs. They are conjugated as follows:  Ã‚  Ã‚  kà ¶nnensollenwollenmà ¼ssendà ¼rfenmà ¶genIchkonntesolltewolltemusstekonntemochteDukonntestsolltestwolltestmusstestkonntestmochtestEr/Sie/EskonntesolltewolltemusstekonntemochteWirkonntensolltenwolltenmusstenkonntenmochtenIhrkonntetsolltetwolltetmusstetkonntetmochtetSiekonntensolltenwolltenmusstenkonntenmochten